That's what it's all about in Monaco: money, power, and Champions League spots

Amid the great power struggle in world soccer, Europe’s top clubs are gathering in Monaco for one of the most important events of the year. The Champions League draw on Thursday (6:00 p.m. DAZN/ZDF stream/Sky) marks the glamorous kickoff to the next season in the billion-dollar business that is the Champions League. 

Even before the four German teams find out whether one of their opponents might be Real Madrid, Liverpool FC, or defending champion Paris Saint-Germain, soccer politics are also at play in the Principality amid European opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. 

The German Teams

The Bundesliga is once again represented by a quartet in the Champions League this season. Champion FC Bayern Munich, runner-up Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and VfB Stuttgart—which finished third and fourth in the Bundesliga—secured their spots. The German clubs were unable to secure a potential fifth spot. The additional slots for the most successful nations went to England and Spain.

The Draw and Format

To be honest, there isn’t even a draw anymore—everything is calculated by computer. The 36 participants were divided into four pots based on the UEFA Club Ranking. German soccer is spread across the four pots (Bayern/1, Dortmund/2, Leipzig/3, and Stuttgart/4).

Each team is assigned two opponents from each pot, including its own, with one home game and one away game. This results in eight matches for the group stage. At the end of the group stage, the top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16. The teams ranked ninth through 24th advance to the playoffs. The tournament then continues in a single-elimination format. 

The Schedule

UEFA will announce the schedule no earlier than Saturday. The first matchday will span three days, from September 8 to 10. The group stage concludes on January 27. The next Champions League winner will be crowned on June 5, 2027, at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.

The Money

The revenue will once again be substantial. UEFA expects 4.4 billion euros in revenue from the Champions League season. 2.467 billion euros will be distributed among the 36 participants based on various criteria.

The key points are: a 18.62 million euro entry bonus per club. In the group stage, there is 2.1 million euros per win and 700,000 euros per draw. In the knockout stage, there are round bonuses ranging from one million euros for the playoffs up to a total of 63.5 million euros for the eventual champion. Another fund distributes shares ranging from 33.66 million euros to 935,000 euros, graded from 1st to 36th place based on the participating clubs’ marketing share. A lucrative business. 

Politics

With the draw ceremony just around the corner, soccer politics is taking center stage. At a top-tier hotel just minutes from the Grimaldi Forum, Europe’s top officials—led by UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin—are meeting with representatives from the 55 member associations. The most important topic: naturally, the FIFA crisis and the strategy for the hoped-for replacement of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. From Germany, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and his vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke—who also serves on the UEFA Executive Committee—are expected to attend. 

However, no potential new soccer leader has (yet) been chosen in the Principality who could challenge the controversial Swiss official in the presidential election on March 18, 2027. The initial strategy is to overwhelm Infantino with a list of demands for good governance—that is, proper conduct in office. Word is that the goal is to corner the Swiss official. Reportedly, the search continues for mistakes in his career as an official, including from his time at UEFA, that could bring him down.